A New Dawn
by Whipper
Summary: Season six. Spike left after a fight with Buffy and now Dawn can't stop thinking about how things are changing.


Disclaimers apply.   
  


**A NEW DAWN,**  
written by Whipper 

  
  
Some things reminds me a lot of him. Like... black nail polish. Peroxide. Bad punk music. Leather, of course.   
  
Graveyards or other vamps? Nah, not really.   
  
Of course I always knew, in the back of my head, that he was a vampire. How could I possible have forgotten for as much as minute with him always drinking blood and the occasional "game face" and "I'm gonna kill your sister" episode. And if I, somehow, ever would have forgotten there was always Buffy reminding me off it every other second.   
  
_"He's a vampire, Dawn! You can't trust him! Ever!" _   
  
She didn't understand it. Didn't understand him. Or me, for that matter.   
  
Maybe she couldn't trust him, but I could. I wasn't like her, hurting him all the time. Making him crazy. Driving him away from Sunnydale. Dammit. Bloody hell, I promised myself I wouldn't start crying again. But it's still raw... as he would say. Still bleeding. I didn't really think he'd ever leave.   
  
After all, he promised not to!   
  
That was before Buffy came back... but still. A promise is a promise.   
  
_"You can't trust him! Ever!" _   
  
Buffy's voice, taunting me. Sometimes I really hate her. Not that she's not good to me. And I do know that she loves me and all that. He'd always remind me of how much she cared about me. Even when he was really pissed with her he wouldn't let me say a bad word about her. But he's not here right now and the truth is that my sister's not a very nice person. She hurts people. People that care about her. Like Spike.   
  
I wipe away the tears from my eyes, at once angry with both of them. They always acted like they knew so much, understood everything... Buffy because she was this superhero girl with all those special powers and Spike because he was really old and had the entire collection of the "been there, done that" t-shirts. But when it really mattered, they didn't know shit! They just fought and fought and then they fought some more and after that Spike went all quiet and finally he left.   
  
All he left behind was an old box outside the door, addressed to me. Buffy didn't say a word as she gave it to me, didn't even look at me... Well, I didn't feel like talking to her either. Cold, selfish bitch!   
  
_"Language, Niblet!" _   
  
Fuck you, Spike. Don't you dare tell me what to do when you're not even around!   
  
Anyway, there was nothing special in that box. A couple of his CDs, some half-empty bottles of black nail polish, a stake and a couple of magazines. A deck of cards too, old and worn. No goodbye note, no "this is a very special thing that I want you to have so that you'll remember me for always, Dawn"... just some junk that he probably didn't have the time to throw away so he decided to give it to me instead. For a moment a part of me wanted to throw it all out into the backyard and burn it.   
  
I'm happy I didn't.   
  
With a small sigh, I put on my jacket and look at myself in the mirror. The girl, no... the young woman, who looks back at me looks nothing like the old Dawn. I've cut the hair short, dyed it a little bit darker. Buffy hates it, but not as much as Spike would if he could see me. He really liked my hair. He'd pet it and twirl his fingers around it. I asked once but he just said it reminded me of something. Someone. But he wouldn't say who.   
  
Probably some stupid girl he killed, an angry voice inside my head added.   
  
Shut up. I put on a little bit more mascara and pulled the comb through my hair one last time before I left for the Bronze. I had a date. He's in college, one of the "bad guys". I couldn't believe my luck when he asked me out. Me, little stupid Dawn Summers. Of course, I've grown a bit this year. More breasts, more hips. A whole lot less innocent.   
  
Once again, Buffy hates the way I've changed. And I just hope Spike would too, if he knew. It's all his fault anyway. Making me feel all alone. Making me feel unimportant. Unwanted. His fault for making me depend on him in the first place.   
  
As I walk down the stairs I meet Buffy.   
  
"Gee, Dawn! Could you look a little bit more like a-"   
  
"A whore?"   
  
I smile at her innocently. As I said, Buffy's not really a very nice person. Sometimes... no, actually most of the time I don't know what Spike saw in her.   
  
A couple of seconds later, just before the door close behind me I add;   
  
"Don't wait up for me, sis!"   
  
I'm not the same anymore. Not the same old innocent, stupid Dawn that Spike left behind.   
  


THE END 


End file.
